


Are You My New Rick?

by Lapis01



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Not Incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-01-06 22:58:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 20,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12220677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lapis01/pseuds/Lapis01
Summary: If Evil Morty hadn't become president, which Rick would Lizard Morty have been assigned to?





	1. Graduation Day

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how to write Rick and Morty's stutters and burps, so I guess they'll have to be implied!

"Left handed Morty, this will be your new Rick!" A Rick said into the microphone.

Lizard Morty awaited excitedly for his turn to graduate. His friends had all been assigned to their new Ricks, and he was next. 

Finally. A new Rick! His original one had been the one to.. well.. fuse him with a lizard. Morty was ok with what he was now, but when it first happened, it had been horrifying. His family had disowned him, and his Rick had been killed by the Galactic Federation. Morty lived in the Citadel of Ricks because of this. 

"Next up we have, Lizard Morty!" 

Morty was pulled out of his thoughts as his name was called. He excitedly skittered onto the stage, beaming up at the Rick announcing the names. Morty recalled his name to be Rick C-158. C-158 let a small smile show as he looked down at Morty. 

"You have done well throughout school and deserve to graduate and recieve your new Rick." 

Morty couldn't help the excited grin that appeared on his face. He missed Rick, even if he had turned him into what he was now. 

"Lizard Morty, this will be your new Rick!" 

Morty turned to see where his new Rick was, his tail quivering in excitement. A door, on the opposite side of the stage from where Morty had entered, opened and out stepped an orangish colored being with bright greenish yellow horns framing his face, dark brown horns that lined the side of his head, and eyes with a tinge of green. He wore the usual Rick styled lab coat, blue shirt, and tan pants with a belt, but after looking him over, Morty noticed he also had a tail. This Rick was another lizard person! 

Rick strode over to Morty as he took a quick swig from his flask. Morty was all but bouncing with excitement as Rick came to a stop in front of him. 

"Hi!"  
"Hey."

The two shook hands- claws. Morty took in the fact that Rick had more claw-like hands than his own. 

"You two shall be partners and work together until you part." C-158 finished. He smiled down at Morty again before shooing the two off-stage. 

Morty followed his Rick's lead until they had left the graduation area. He had so many things he wanted to ask! 

"Do you live here, in the citadel? Or do you live with your family?" Morty asked. 

Rick turned his head to glance down at Morty, "In the citadel. I'm sure you already know why." 

"Oh. So you were fused with a lizard then, too? I wasn't sure if your dimention were a bunch of lizard people or something." 

Rick took another swig from his flask and rolled his eyes. "Wow. You catch on fast." His sarcasm was obvious. 

Morty fell silent. If he had been fused by his original Rick, then what happened to his new Rick?

"How were you turned into what you are? Did your Morty do it to you?" 

Morty regretted asking because Rick seemed to stiffen at the question. 

"It's none of your business." Rick growled, his eyes narrowing as he refused to look down at Morty. 

"Oh, geeze. Sorry.." 

Morty wrapped his arms around himself. He hoped Rick wasn't too mad at him. They had just met, and Morty already messed up.. 

"We're going to drop by wherever the hell you live, and you're going to grab your stuff. Got it?" Rick seemed to have recovered from whatever had been wrong before, as he was now looking back down at Morty. 

Morty nodded, and he kept his gaze to the ground. He had already packed his few belongings before the graduation ceremony. 

After walking for a while longer, Morty saw the apartment complex he had been staying in. He walked into the building and led Rick up to his room. 

"Give me a sec to grab my stuff." Morty mumbled, quietly. 

He went over to where he had one box full of stuff, and wandered back over to Rick. Rick seemed to notice how sad he looked, because he but a clawed hand onto Morty's shoulder. 

"C'mon. Let's get going." Rick grunted as his tail swished from side to side. 

Rick pulled a portal gun out of his lab coat, and he opened up a portal. Morty followed him through, and they appeared in what Morty assumed was Rick's home. The place messy and unorganized. Bits and pieces of unfinished projects were scattered across the room, and tools layed wherever Rick seemed to have felt like dropping them. Morty took a moment to take it all in, the smell of alcohol, the quiet sound of beeping machinery, and the overall feel of the room. 

"Welcome to your new home, Morty!" Rick grined down at him widely.


	2. Back To The Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick has a flashback.

Rick watched quietly as Morty went into his new room. The kid had unpacked his few possesions and seemed to be getting used to being around a Rick again. 

Rick started making his way towards his own room when a sudden and sharp pain made him stop and lean against the near by wall. He looked down to see his lab coat soaked in blood- his blood. Rick's breathing became ragged and quick. Where had this blood come from? 

The lizard/human hybrid fell to his knees, wheezing in pain. He looked up to see his old garage around him, rather than his house in the citadel. 

"Oh, Rick. You should have kept an eye out for me!" Morty's voice sang. 

Morty. Had his new Morty betrayed him? Rick tried to focus on the blurry figure in front of him. No- this was his original Morty, not his new one. Rick looked down at his blood soaked hands to find that they weren't covered in scales, but human flesh instead.

Morty advanced towards Rick with a grin plastered on his face. He held up what looked like a syringe with a sickly yellow colored substance on the inside. 

"Stay back, Morty. I'm warning you!" Rick gasped out. 

He tried not to show his pain, but his whole body shook as his own blood splattered onto the floor of the garage. 

"Oh, Rick. Why would I do that when this is so much more entertaining?" 

Morty knelt beside his shivering grandfather and gazed into his fear filled eyes. The kid took the syringe and injected it into Rick's neck and stood back, his eyes cold and empty. 

Rick screamed in pain, curling in on himself as scales errupted from his skin and horns formed upon his head. The transformation only lasted a few moments before Morty came back over to observe his creation. 

"Disgusting." Morty growled as he kicked Rick in the ribs, causing more blood to flow onto the floor.

Rick grunted in pain, his eyes narrowing shut. Using his tail, the lizard hybrid swept Morty's feet from under him. Rick used his momentum to push himself him up, slam a foot onto Morty's chest, and stab the kid with his claws. 

Morty barely had time to react before Rick dug his claws farther into Morty's chest. 

"What the hell did you do to me?!" Rick screamed, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Morty coughed weakly and grinned again. He held up the syringe up to Rick with a shaking hand. 

"You made this yourself. It's irreversible." 

Rick snatched the needle out of Morty's hand with his free one and turned it so he could read the label. The hybrid froze, dropping the syringe and letting it shatter on the floor. His gaze dropped back down to Morty, but any words he had ready died in his throat when he realized the kid was dead. 

Rick pulled his claws out if his grandson's chest and stumbled backwords, clutching at the hidden wound beneath his lab coat. He sunk to the floor and felt tears forming in his odd new eyes. Rick was suprised he even had tear ducts, now that he had been fused with lizard DNA. He curled into himself and cursed quietly. 

0000

"R--k!" "Ri--!" "RICK!" 

Rick lurched backwards as his name was being shouted. He looked down at his lab coat to find it only wet with what must have been tears. No blood. His gaze turned to his hands, which were their normal orange color. 

"Rick? Can you hear me?" 

Rick looked up to see Morty- his new Morty. Lizard Morty- crouched down in front of him with a very worried look plastered on his face. His red and yellow eyes were focused on Rick's own green and yellow tinged ones. 

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I can hear you." Rick replied. He hated how his voice shook.

Morty let out a relieved breath, "Thank god. Geeze, Rick. You scared me half to death." 

"What happened?" Rick asked as he started standing back up.

"I heard something fall, and when I went to go see what it was, you were curled up on the floor. You were shaking, Rick, and you kept making a noise like you were in pain. I think you were crying?" Morty looked down at his hands. "I tried to wake you up, but you lashed out at me." 

Rick's eyes narrowed as he straightened to his full height, swaying slighty were he stood. He looked Morty over and spotted claw marks on the underside of Morty's arm. 

"Are you ok, Rick?" Morty seemed concerned. 

"I'm fine." Rick hissed. "Go clean and bandage your arm, Morty. I'm going to go work on something, Morty. Don't bother me." Rick turned and stalked down the hall, not even looking back to see if Morty would listen to what he said. 

As soon as he was out of sight and in the safety of his own room, Rick slumped onto the floor. He could faintly hear Morty crying in the bathroom. Rick felt his heart tighten in concern. He hadn't ment to lash out at the kid while he went throught that.... flashback. He would have to try and make it up to him later. Rick took a deep drink from his flask, emptying it in one go, before moving on to an unopened bottle of whiskey he had laying around in his room. 

Morty was a tough kid, Rick knew that much. He kept seeing the image of his original Morty, dead on the ground. Rick sighed and took another large gulp of whiskey. He'd make this whole mess up to Morty, but after he was drunk enough to not feel anything for a while.


	3. Aren't Adventures Suppose To Be Fun?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizard Rick and Lizarz Morty's first adventure!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I hope you're all enjoying this so far! Please let me know if you have any specific ideas you might want me to post a chapter on! Oh! And please let me know what you think of this story so far! Thanks!

"Come on, Morty! Move it!" 

Rick was knocking on Morty's door, waiting for the kid to scurry out of his room. It was about time they went on an adventure. 

"Sorry, Rick! I'm ready!" 

Morty finally opened his door and looked up at Rick, his eyes shining with excitement. Rick was suprised that Morty seemed so excited to go. The lizard hybrid pulled his portal gun out of his lab coat and opened a portal. He walked through and let his tail curl around Morty's arm to lead him through. 

"What are we going to do?" Morty asked, after stepping back out of the portal. 

"This planet has a rare type of crystal found inside a mountain. I need the crystal for one of my inventions." Rick explained, vaguely gesturing with his hand. 

"Oh." 

Rick glanced around at their surroundings. The two lizard hybrids were surrounded by a beautiful, but dense jungle. Rick could spot the mountain they were looking for over the tops of the trees. He started making his way through the jungle, and for once, he was thankful for being part lizard. The tropical climate would have effected a normal Rick and Morty, but lizards tended to be more adapted to these types of climates. 

"Hey, Rick?" Morty caught up to Rick and stayed close to his side. 

"What?" 

"Are you doing ok?" 

"I'm fine, Morty." 

The two continued on in silence. Rick brushed past some branches when he heard a pained gasp come from Morty. He spun around to find that one of the branches had stabbed through the white bandages covering the claw marks on Morty's arm. 

"R-Rick! This hurts! Help!" 

"Shhh, Morty. Hold on." 

Rick carefully pulled the branch out of the now re-opened wound and led Morty to a clearing. 

"Crap." Rick muttered. 

Although the wound was pathetic, the branch had left some sort of sap that was causing blood to bubble out. The once white bandage wrapping that had covered the claw marks was quickly becoming an ugly red color. 

Morty whimpered as Rick took off his lab coat and began cleaning out the wound the best he could. When he was done, Rick ripped off one of the coat's sleeves, removed Morty's old bandage, and wrapped the sleeve around his arm. 

"Come on, Morty. I'll clean it out better when we get back home." 

Morty nodded, and the two continued on. Thankfully, it wasn't long before they reached the base of the mountain. 

"How are we gonna get up there?" Morty was looking up to the top of the mountain. 

"Morty, have you forgotten what animal we're fused with?" Rick's voise was laced with annoyance. 

Morty huffed, but started scaling the side of the mountain. Rick scittered past him, obviously much more use to climbing up rocky walls. At one point, Morty was forced to grab Rick's tail when he lost his footing and nearly fell. Rick let out a grunt and swore loudly. 

"Sorry!" Morty squeaked, letting go of his adopted grandfather's tail as soon as he had found his footing again.

Rick just rolled his eyes and continued climbing. Eventually, they made it to the top and Rick took a swig from his flask, though Morty seemed confused as to where Rick was keeping the flask, since he wasn't wearing his lab coat. 

"There you are, you beautiful crystal." Rick exclaimed as a grin spread onto his face.

Morty followed close behind as Rick took long stride over to a bright blue and pink crystal. As he went to start pulling shards off said crystal, he heard a low growl. 

"Morty, stay behind me." Rick instructed as he turned around to face whatever had made the noise. 

Morty made no objections as he hid behind the older hybrid. Everything went quiet and still aside from Morty's panicked breathing. Suddenly, something black jumped out of the shadows and shoved Rick onto the ground. The beast snapped at his face as Rick frantically tried to pull out his gun. 

"Rick!" 

"Morty! Grab as many crystals as you can!" Rick shouted. 

Sharp claws dug into Rick's side as the beast swiped at him, knocking the gun he had just retrieved across the room. He winced as he felt his scales being ripped off. An angry growl made its way out of Rick's throat and the hybrid punched the beast's jaw as hard as he could. There was a horrible cracking noise and the beast whimpered in pain. 

"Get-" Rick brought his legs under the beast's belly and planted his feet firmly on its stomach. "- out of here!" With a powerful push, Rick set the creature flying across the room, where he heard a loud smack and a thump. 

Morty rushed over to Rick, his arms full of crystals. His red and yellow eyes were filled with panick, and he kept glancing back over to were the creature lay, sticking his tongue out every so often to taste the air. 

"Let's get out of here, Morty." Rick pushed himself into a standing position, swearing loudly as pain shot through his side.

Rick began to worry he was having another flashback when he looked down to see blood soaking his blue shirt. Morty called his name a few times, but the boy sounded as though he was far away. 

"Gotta make... it home." Rick muttered, fumbling around for his portal gun. 

The bright green color in front of him signaled that he had opened a portal, and Rick wasted no time stumbling through it. He clutched at his side and collasped as the portal closed behind him and everything went black. 

0000

Rick slowly opened his eyes and groaned loudly. His side was throbbing, but when he went to go touch it, he felt thick bandages covering it. The hybrid stared at the bandages, confuse. Who had.... Morty. Rick looked around for his tiny companion and found the kid passed out on the couch next to him. 

Rick sighed as he watched the smaller lizard sleep and quietly observed the way his chest rose and fell as he breathed. When Rick had first seen which Morty he was going to be assigned to, he had dreaded it. Lizard Morty was known to be clingy and full of energy, two things Rick had NOT wanted to deal with. But, now that he had spent time with the kid, Rick grew attached to him. 

The scientist closed his eyes again, deciding that moving would wake Morty. The kid needed his sleep. It wasn't long before Rick was out like a light.


	4. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick and Morty recover from their latest adventure.

Rick woke up with a coughing fit. He brought a clawed hand to rub at his throat. It was then that he remembered the sleeping kid laying next to- on top of him. Morty opened his eyes and tiredly raised his head to look over at Rick. 

"Are you ok?" Morty asked quietly, his voice scratchy from using for the first time in multiple hours. 

"I will be. C'mon, Morty. I gotta clean your arm." Rick croaked. 

Morty rolled off the couch without another word and made his way to the bathroom. Rick took longer to get up. The wound on his side screamed at the sudden movement, and Rick fell back onto the couch. It took him a few more tries before he could stand and follow Morty to the bathroom.

By the time Rick made it into the room, Morty had pulled off his makeshift bandage and was staring at the ugly wound. 

"Rick, it's kind of yellow?" 

"Yeah, that's normal. The sap you got in it changes the color." Rick explained as he took Morty's arm into his hands. 

The wound itself was mainly scabbed over from when Rick had accidentally clawed the kid's arm. The point where is had been reopened wasn't actually bad either. Rick cleaned it out with some rubbing alcohol and rebandaged it. Morty took his arm back to inspect his adopted grandfather's work. 

"Thanks, Rick." 

"Whatever." 

Rick turned to leave when he felt a tug on his tail. 

"What do you want, Morty?" He asked with obvious annoyance. 

"What about you? That creature from before got you really well." Morty seemed worried. 

"I have something I can make that'll help heal it faster." Rick replied. 

"Do you have the stuff to make it?"

Rick sighed, and turned to face Morty, "Nope." 

"Rick! Then let me clean it out!" 

"No, Morty. I'm fine, Morty." 

Morty let out a high pitched whine and refused to drop Rick's tail. 

"Please!" 

Rick sighed again. He knew Morty wouldn't stop bothering him about this unless he let the kid help him. 

"Fine, Morty. Be quick. I've got better things to do."

Morty nodded and turned to grab what he would need. While he was doing that, Rick lifted his blood stained shirt in order to allow Morty access to his side. The bandages had been soaked through, most likely from when he and Morty had fallen asleep.

Rick pulled at the bandaging, but was unable to just rip it off. He ended up using his claws to tear it off just as Morty turned to clean it. The kid sucked in a shaky breath when he saw how bad the wound had gotten since he had last cleaned it. 

"This is probably going to hurt." Morty warned as he started applying some rubbing alcohol. 

Rick hissed and stiffend at the bubbling pain, but was otherwise quiet and devodent of emotion. It wasn't long before Morty had finished cleaning it, and was covering it back up.

"You'll appreciate that when you don't get an infection, Rick." Morty huffed, crossing his arms as he stood back. 

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Rick rolled his eyes and stood up, "Go do whatever it is Mortys do when I'm not around." 

Rick pulled his shirt back down and left the bathroom without looking back at the kid. Once he made it to his room, he took off his shirt and threw it into the corner of his room. Opening his closet, the hybrid pulled out a new, clean shirt, put it on, and then went to grab another lab coat. 

Rick sighed and went to sit on his bed, pulling his legs up to his chest, and letting his tail curl around him while leaning against the wall. Their first adventure together had been a mess. At least they hadn't gone home empty handed, as Rick had spotted the crystals Morty had gathered sitting on his desk. 

What was his Morty's story? All the information he had recieved about Morty had been that his original Rick had fused him with lizard DNA before the Galactic Federation had found and killed him. From there, Summer and Beth had disowned him. Who knew where Jerry had gone in that universe, but Rick couldn't bring himself to give a damn. Either way, Rick would have to ask Morty what had happened; however, he had a feeling the kid would ask what had happened to him in turn. That was not a story Rick could bring himself to share just yet. 

The hyrbid took a drink from his flask and smiled faintly at the warmth it left in his stomach. He hadn't told anyone -not even other Ricks- what had happened to make him half lizard. But, his Morty was bound to find out eventually. Rick just hoped it would be a while until that happened.


	5. A Semi-Sad Backstory?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick asks Morty how he ended up as a hybrid and what happened from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and let me know how you guys are liking this series so far! I'd love to receive some feedback!

Morty sat on the couch, flipping through millions of channels when Rick said his name. 

"Yeah?" Morty asked, shutting the Tv off and turning to face Rick. 

"We need to talk." Rick responded. 

The older hybrid came and sat on the opposite end of the couch. 

"About what?" 

"You." Rick took a moment to stare off at nothing while he seemed to decide on what to say. "How did you get fused with lizard DNA?" 

Morty tilted his head at the question, "Uuh. My original Rick--" 

"Yeah, yeah. I know that part. Why did he do it? What exactly happened?" Rick interrupted. The scientist took a drink from his flask while he waited.

"Oh.. Well, he didn't mean to do it- it was an accident. He was trying to help me." Morty quietly tapped his claws together and kept his gaze on his tail, which was curled against his legs. 

"How so?" 

"He asked me to grab him one of the two syringes that were on the table. I don't remember what color they were, but they looked the same, and I grabbed the wrong one by mistake." Morty took a shaky breath. He wasn't very comfortable talking about the subject. "I had some alien disease, and he was going to give me the cure. Well, I guess I handed him the wrong vial?"

Rick sighed, his tail flicking quietly. "Is that it, Morty?"

"No.."

"Go on, then." 

"Well, after he injected it I turned into, well.. this. And since I was still sick, he put me in a glass containment thing." Morty stopped speaking for a moment to look up at Rick. "Rick? Do we have to talk about this?"

"Morty, I need to know what happened." Rick huffed. He seemed annoyed. 

"Will you tell me what happened to you if I finish?" Morty asked, hopefully. 

"No."

"Why?" 

"It's none of your damn business!" Rick shouted, though he seemed to regret raising his voice.

"I-.... sorry... I'll finish my story.." Morty internally cringed at how angry Rick had looked. What had happened that could have been so horrible? "Anyway, while Rick was trying to figure out how to fix me, he read a something on the syringe and told me he couldn't do anything. But in order to cure whatever I was sick with, he had to make something new. I guess because my DNA had changed?" 

Rick nodded at the last question. Morty took his tail into his hands and started messing with it. 

"The Galactic Federation found us. Maybe because my body had changed and it had unmasked Rick's brain waves. Anyway, they killed him right then and there because he was resisting arrest. I was left in the tube for a few days, but some other Ricks eventually got word my Rick was dead and came to see what had happened." 

Morty realized that at some point, Rick had scooted closer to him and now had his tail resting against Morty's own. 

"I, uh. I tried to go and talk to Mom and Summer, but they.. they took one look at me and made me leave.. something about not being Mom's kid. The Ricks from before took me here and gave me a home and let me go to school. That's really about it." 

Rick tipped his head as Morty finished. He seemed like he had been expecting something else. 

"That's all I needed to know." The older hybrid grumbled as he stood up. 

Morty almost didn't notice the small wince Rick made at the movement. His wound must have been bothering him again. 

"Rick? I.. eventually, whenever you decide to actually trust me, I'd like to know about you. Ok?" Morty curled up against the back of the couch, preparing himself for the yelling that was sure to come, but it never did. 

Rick hissed quietly before he turned and left, no doubt going to go work on some new invention. Morty had told Rick he wouldn't go on any more adventures until the older hybrid's wound healed. 

Morty sighed softly and turned the Tv back on.


	6. Just A Walk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morty needs a breather and goes out for a walk around the Citadel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd love to hear what you guys have to say about the series so far! If you have the time, please let me know what you think in the comments!

Morty walked up to the front door, which would lead out to the citadel. 

"Be back later, Rick!" Morty hollered down the hall. 

There was no response, so Morty sighed and opened the door, being sure to lock it behind him. He hadn't had fresh air in a while, and the kid wanted to take a walk. Maybe he would pick up sonething for Rick to eat while he was out, since it was rare Rick ever ate or drank anything, aside from alcohol. 

The outdoor shopping center in the Citadel of Ricks was teeming with life. Ricks and Mortys from tons of different dimentions were walking about and chatting. Morty felt a pang of loneliness without his own Rick near by. The other hybrid had seemed distant and cold lately, and Morty was beginning to worry, but he knew he couldn't do anything about it. That's just how his Rick was.

Morty was pulled out of his thoughts when he accidently bumped into another Morty. 

"Sorry!" He squeaked.

The other Morty seemed to be about to say something when his Rick stepped in and started cursing. Morty cringed away from the angry Rick and slunk off into the crowd. His tail stayed low and close to his body, as Morty had learned a long time ago that no one cared if it got stepped on. Ricks could be so inconsiderate sometimes! 

"Hey! Morty with the tail!" 

Morty looked up in the direction of the voice, confused. A Rick with green hair, instead of blue, was waving him over. The kid almost decided to just ignore the Rick, but he eventually shuffled his way over. 

"Yeah?" 

"It looks like you're missing your Rick today!" The green haired Rick frowned, "Is he dead, or are you still in school?" 

"He's at home." Morty mumbled. 

"How about I make you a deal, then? I'll give you something he would like if you let me examine you!" The Rick was grinning widely now, "It's a great deal, ya know!"

Morty's eyes went wide. There was no way he was going to let a random Rick 'examine' him. 

"U-uh, no thanks!" Morty tried to walk away, but the Rick grabed him by the collar of his shirt. 

"C'mon, Morty! I just wanna see how different you are when genetically compared to other Mortys!" 

"I said no! Let me go!" Morty screamed back in response. 

When the Rick didn't loosen his grip, Morty felt panick rising in his chest. He didn't want to be cut open and examinded like some science experiment!

"Uuuhhgg.. I offered you a damn deal, Morty! I have to know what makes a freak like you tick!" The Rick pulled Morty along as he began walking away, though Morty couldn't see where. 

"Please! Just let me go!" Morty shouted as he started to struggle against the Rick's grip. 

The green haired Rick seem at all phased by Morty's efforts as he dragged the kid along. No one around them even looked at what was happening. They all just assumed this Rick was Morty's Rick. The Rick stopped and opened a door before pulling Morty inside. 

"I've never seen a lizard hybrid before. Well, at least not a Morty. The few dimentions that have lizard hybrids usually don't have Mortys due to their odd breeding habbits." The Rick rattled off. 

Morty's breath became short an panicked as he spotted lab equipment and a metal table in this new room. The Rick suddenly picked him up and shoved him onto one of the lab tables. 

"Such a fascinating freak of nature." The Rick seemed to be talking to himself. 

"Let me go! Help!" Morty's screams were ignored in favore of powerful cuffs locking over his neck, arms, legs, and tail. "Please just let me go!" Tears began dripping down Morty's face. 

"Oh, no, no, no. I can't do that. Haven't you been listening, Morty? You're gonna further my research, Morty." 

Morty started sobbing as the Rick turned around and began searching through some metal tools that Morty couldn't name. Rick muttered quietly to himself as he looked and laughed excitedly when he found whatever he had been searching for. He turned back around with what Morty recognized as a laser scalpel. 

"Time to open you up!"


	7. Open Up, Little Morty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green haired Rick is far too excited to see what makes our beloved lizard Morty tick...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those who have left both comments and/or kuddos! I appreciate it! For those of you that have been enjoying this story so far, you might be happy to know that I made an ask account on Tumblr for my version of Lizard Rick! You can find the account at @lizardhybridrick!!

Rick jolted awake from his unwanted nap. He snarled in annoyance at the sharp pain that shot through his side. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and stared at the wall for a moment. He had way too much to drink before he had fallen asleep and was coming down from a hangover. 

The hybrid stood and left his room in search of Morty. The kid was no where to be found. That's when Rick remembered a muffled, "I'm leaving!" Morty must have gone out. Rick wouldn't be so worried if he didn't know how skiddish and naive Mortys could be. Rickopened a portal and stepped through. 

The market place was busy and loud. Too loud. Rick held his head in his hands for a moment as he tried to focus on the blurry mass in front of him. 

"Move it!" Some other Rick shouted behind him.

"Aww, Rick... he doesn't look so good.. let him be." The voice must have been a Morty. 

Rick spun around to face them, looking down at the Morty hopefully. It was not his own. 

"Have you seen a small, green reptilian Morty at all today?" Rick asked them. 

"You lost your Morty? Just get a new one." The Rick responded, crossing his arms. 

"Rick! Stop being so rude!" The Morty commented. 

Rick was suprised at the Morty's confidence. Mortys didn't usually talk back to their Ricks. 

"Umm.. other Rick? I think I saw your Morty earlier. He, uh, bumped into me." The Morty said, looking up at Rick. 

It took multiple minutes for Rick to process what the Morty had said. 

"Where did he go?" 

"I saw some Rick with green hair drag him off earlier over there." The Morty pointed at a stand, "I thought that was his Rick.." The Morty looked back to his own Rick to be sure the older man wasn't angry. 

"Thanks." Rick said. 

He took one last look before making his way over to where the Morty had pointed. There was no one around, which made Rick become nervous. Where was his Morty? If some random Rick had dragged him off, then the kid could be in serious trouble.

0000

"Such a fascinating creature, you are." Green hair Rick mumbled to himself. 

Morty stared fearfully up at him. He tried to struggle -tried to get away- but he was strapped down so tight it hurt. The Rick held his lazer scalpel in hand, but seemed to think better of it and put it down next to Morty. 

"What kind of an abomination are you?" The Rick poked at Morty's exposed arm. He seemed fascinated by the kid's scales. 

"What are you going to do to me?" Morty asked with a shaking voice. 

"Cut you open, of course. See what makes you so different from other Mortys." 

"I've got lizard DNA in me! That's it! Please let me go, now!" 

"No, no, no. You're far too valuable, too interesting. I can't just let you go, Morty."

The Rick smiled warmly as he visually dissected Morty. Morty skrewed his eyes shut, trying to hide from those watchful and unwavering eyes. He heard the Rick pick the scalpel back up and felt panick rise in his chest. 

"No! Please...." 

Just before the Rick could make his first insission, Morty heard a loud bang and the clatter of something metal and heavy hitting the ground. Green haired Rick growled and left as soon as Morty dared to open his eyes. 

There was smoke everywherewhich cause Morty to have a hard time seeing and breathing. The sound of a gun shot and a pained scream echoed through the room, and it terrified Morty. 

Dread set in his heart as a tall figure appeared in the shadows. It swayed as it walked and seemed to be wheezing.

"Morty?" It called.

Morty kept very quiet and didn't move. He did his best to keep his sobs silent.

"Morty?" It repeated.

When the figure finally stepped out of the shadows, Morty allowed himself to start crying again.

"Rick!!"

The recently unknown figure was at Morty's side in an instant and started working to shut down the systems that were keeping Morty strapped to the table. It was his own Rick, not green haired Rick!

As soon as he was able to move again, Morty flung himself at Rick and latched on to him tightly. Rick looked to be suprised at first, and he stiffened at the sudden physical contact, but he seemed to give in and hugged Morty back.

"Don't ever do that again." Rick's voice held tiredness instead of its usual venom.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!" Morty cried into Rick's chest.

Rick gently picked the kid up and held him close to his chest.

"It's ok, Morty. You're ok. You're safe." Rick cued as he rubbed calming strokes up and down Morty's back. "I'm here."

"Rick? Can we please go home?" Morty asked through his sobbing.

"Of course. Let's go home, Morty."

Rick opened a portal that lead home and carried his exhausted Morty through.


	8. Night Terrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was all just a dream, wasn't it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the support! The comments and kudos mean a lot!! For those who may have missed it last chapter, @lizardhybridrick on Tumblr is my own ask account for Lizard Rick!!

Shadows claimed almost every part of the floor except for one small patch of light that came from a lamp. Morty didn't know where he was, but the place felt oddly familiar. 

A sadistic grin cut through the darkness as light reflected off the teeth. 

"Hello, Morty." A voice said. 

"W-who are you?" Morty asked with his trembling voice. 

"Oh, you know exactly who I am." The voice reply. 

A figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal a very well known face. The man was tall, slim, and had terrifyingly familiar green hair. 

Morty tried to scream and yell for help, but he couldn't seem to make any sound. 

"Why don't we finish what we started?" The Rick asked. 

It had all been a dream, hadn't it? His Rick hadn't come to save him.. How could he, when Morty was still here, strapped down to a table? Morty felt cold tears drip down from his red and yellow eyes as the Rick turned on his lazer scalpel and pulled the small hybrid's shirt up. 

"Where to start? Hmmm.." Green haired Rick grinned again. 

Pain stabbed through Morty's stomach as the obviously sadistic Rick began cutting through his skin. A scream was able to escape Morty's throat aswarm blood dripped meekly from the wound. All the Rick did was laugh snd continue cutting as Morty's vision went black.

 

0000

Morty woke up and jerked his body forwards. He fell off his bed and onto the floor with a pained groan. The kid sat up abd looked around, so very relieved to find that he was in his room. Tears still dripped freely from his eyes as he began collecting the sheets he had pushed onto the floor in his sleep. 

Morty knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so he quietly left his room and wandered over to Rick's bedroom door. The older hybrid's door was cracked, but the lights were out. Morty gently pushed the door open and peeked in. Rickwas mostly hidden under his many blankets (Being half lizard made it a lot harder to keep warm) and he had his back pressed against the wall the bed was pushed up against. 

"Rick?" Morty asked quietly as he took a small step into the room. He sniffled a bit and tried to wipe away the tears that kept reforming. "Rick? Are you awake?" 

Rick didn't respond aside from seeming to curl tighter into himself. Morty tapped his claws together, unsure of what to do. Before he could lose the courage, the kid walked up to the side of Rick's bed and gently shook the sleeping scientist. 

"Rick?" Morty asked again. 

This time he received a muffled, but tired groan. 

"What do you need?" Rick responded without opening his eyes. 

"Could I sleep with you? I, uh... had a really bad nightmare." Morty mumbled. 

Rick sighed quietly, but lifted the covers so Morty could climb under them. Morty sniffled again before crawing under the covers and curlimg up against Rick's chest.

"Thank you."

Rick seemed to be asleep again, because Morty didn't get a reply. 

"Goodnight, Rick. I love you." 

Morty was out like a light in seconds.


	9. Run!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick's side is finally healed, and he pulls Morty onto another adventure... sort of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all soooo much for the support! You guys are the reason I'm still adding chapters XD

"Run, Morty!" Rick's voice split through the otherwise quiet hallway. 

Morty's eyes grew wide and he followed behind Rick as the other hybrid bolted. 

"W-why?! What's wrong?" Morty asked frantically. 

"The guards are on their way! We tripped a silent alarm!" Just moments after Rick spoke, someone began shooting laser pistals in their general direction. 

Morty yelped in surprise and scrambled after Rick as the other turned down a hallway. 

"Can't we just portal out of here?!" Morty asked as he just narrowly dodged slamming into a wall. 

"Not until we lose them!"

Rick had tons of odd machinery parts in his arms, and he was having a hard time not dropping it all. Morty was able to take the lead, and he led them down another hallway. The smaller hybrid didn't dare to look back at their pursuers. 

"Morty! You idiot!" Rick shouted as they ran into a dead end. Morty actually collided with the way, though Rick stopped just barely behind him. 

"I'm sorry!! Just open a portal, Rick!!" Morty shouted back after recovering from his collision. 

The guards came to a stop behind them and clipped Rick's shoulder with a warning shot. Rick hissed through his teeth as he turned around to face the men. 

Morty made a whimpering noise and clenched his hand around the edge of Rick's lab coat. 

"Stand down and drop the parts!" One of the guards shouted at the pair. 

Rick made no move to drop anything. He just stood there and seemed to be staring off into space. 

"Rick!" Morty whispered harshly. 

Rick shook his head and shifted the parts in his arms over to his left arm. He whipped out his portal gun and before any of the guards could react, he opened a portal, grabbed Morty's wrist with his tail, and hopped through. 

Morty let out a yelp as he fell backwords into the swirling green light. It closed behind him as he fell onto something with a grunt. Rick let out a pained huff, and Morty realized he had fallen on top of the older hybrid. The kid rolled off Rick and onto his side. He sat up to look over at Rick to find the scientist with his eyes screwed shut and a hand clutching at his shoulder. 

"That went well." Rick said after a while. 

"Rick! You got shot!"

"It's not bad. Just a scratch." Rick slowly sat up, "I got the parts I needed for a new invention."

Morty sighed and helped the other hybrid into a standing position. Rick gathered his parts up and whisked away to his room. Morty spotted the dark red spreading through the white lab coat Rick wore. He sighed and went to go grab the medical kit.

0000

It had been hours since Rick had gone into his room. Morty had tried to go in with the medkit, but the older hyrbid had locked the door and hadn't responded. Morty was beginning worry as a third hour passed, and Rick still had not come out. 

"Hey, Rick? Are you ok?" Morty called after walking up to his adopted grandfather's door. 

He heard the tiniest click that told him the door was unlocked. Morty took a deep breath and went inside. Rick was just sitting back down at his desk when Morty walked in. The white lab coat Rick usually wore was nowhere to be found, but Morty spotted something that looked like ductape wrapped around the hybrid's shoulder. 

"You've been in here for hours without even saying a word!" Morty shouted, "You were shot in the shoulder, Rick! You. Were. Shot!" 

Rick didn't seem to be listening to Morty's ranting, and he just continued on with whatever he was tinkering with. 

"I was worried sick! The least you could have done is taken care of yourself first!" 

"Morty." Rick tried to interrupt. 

"Why do you always have to be such a jerk! You're rude and nasty, and you always ignore me!" Morty didn't even hear Rick speak over his own yelling. 

"Morty." Rick said again, this time saying it a bit louder. 

"I try so hard to help you, and make you happy! But all I ever get is, 'Go away, Morty' or, 'It's none of your business, Morty'"

"Morty! Listen to me!" Rick actually shouted this time as he turned around to face the kid.

Morty stopped speaking mid-sentence. 

"I realize what I've done, but I've also saved you on multiple different occasions. If I didn't want you hear, then why would I protect you?" 

Morty looked down at the ground. He just wanted some sort of affection or friendly attention from Rick. 

"I'm not.. I'm not a good person, Morty. I'm not good with being friendly, or giving you the kind of attention you want." Rick's face showed none of his feelings or emotions, but the way his tail seemed to shake showed his nervousness. 

Morty wasn't sure how to react. He hadn't expected Rick to react this was. He lifted his arm up to Rick, claws still firmly grasped around the medkit's handle. 

"What?" Rick asked, eyeing the kit. 

"Just promise me you'll use it?" Morty asked, not making eye contact with the other hybrid.

When Rick didn't respond, Morty shoved the medical kit closer to him. 

"Promise me, Rick." 

"Fine, whatever, Morty." Rick huffed, but he took the kit and put it on his desk.

Morty sighed as he turned and left the room. His tail dragged on the floor, giving away his disappointment. 

"Morty?" 

"Hm?" Morty turned to look back at Rick. 

"Thank you." 

As the small hybrid left, he let a small smile form. Maybe this ment he was finally making progress with Rick.


	10. Trip to the Market

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our lizard boys go to the market.

Rick walked up to Morty's door with long strides. He flung it open, expecting the kid to be sleeping on his bed, but Morty wasn't there. It wasn't until Rick looked up that he saw him. Morty was on the ceilling, sleeping. 

"Morty! What are you doing?" Rick asked in between sips from his flask. 

Morty's eyes opened and he almost lost his footing on the ceilling. 

"I, uh, I like it up here!" Morty responded. 

"Get down. We have stuff to do." 

Morty grumbled quietly in protest, but he climbed down onto the floor. 

Rick sighed, but opened a portal and let Morty follow him through. He stepped out into the all too familiar market place, which was as lively as ever. 

"Stay close to me, Morty. Don't wander off." Rick said to the smaller hybrid when he noticed how terrified Morty looked. 

Rick began walking when he felt somthing grab at his hand. He looked down to find that Morty had hooked his hand in Rick's own. As much as he didn't want it there, Rick couldn't bring himself to pull away. Morty looked absolutely petrified about being there, and Rick didn't want to scare the kid anymore than he already had. 

With a quiet sighed, Rick took off walking again. He ignored the stares other Ricks and Mortys always gave him when he went anywhere in public. His own Morty's grip tightened around his hand when some Rick stated something like, "Ugly freaks".

The pair stopped in front of an icecream place. Morty looked up at Rick with a confused look on his face. 

"What do you want?" Rick asked. 

"For icecream?" 

"Well, duh. Choose something." 

"Oh! Um.. Can I get a mint chocolate chip?" 

"Sure." 

Rick gave the Morty at the counter his Morty's order and paid. After Rick handed Morty his icecream, they were on their way again. Morty still refuesed to let go of Rick's hand, but the scientist didn't mind. 

0000

 

With Morty quietly eating his icecream, Rick was able to make a deal with another Rick on some alien tech he needed. He handed off some money and shoved the small piece of tech he had recieved in his lab coat pocket. 

"Thank you." Morty mumbled around his almost finished icecream cone. 

"For what?" Rick asked as he lead Morty back into the crowd. 

"For the icecream. And for not leaving me." 

Rick didn't respond verbally, but he gently squeezed Morty's hand.

"Would you like some?" Morty asked, holding his icecream up to Rick. 

"Sure. Why not." Rick took a small bite off the treat and decided to let Morty finish it. 

The two walked up to a new building and entered. Rick searched through the aisles before stopping in one that had blankets lining the shelves as Morty finished his icecream. 

"Choose one." Rick said to Morty. 

"How come?" 

"For when you feel like sleeping on the ceilling." Rick said, "I'll fix it so it won't fall off while you're up there." 

Morty smiled widely and began feeling each blanket, trying to decide which one he liked better. He came back to Rick holding a soft looking blue blanket that had dinosaurs covering it. 

"Are you sure you want that one?" Rick asked skeptically.

"Yep!" 

Rick bought the blanket and the two jumped through a portal leading to home. Morty happily rushed towards his room, new dinosaur blanket in his arms. 

"Thank you!" He shouted behind him. 

Rick rolled his eyes, but let a small smile form as he watched Morty's tail wag excitedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit that the icecream part was inspired by @rickcrte's picture they drew on Tumblr!


	11. Chapter 11

It had been hours since Morty had left to go meet up with some other Morty. Rick was beginning to worry and it showed through his back and forth pacing. He knew how much Morty needed his own time, but the hybrid was getting anxious without the he kid around, as much as he hated to admit it. 

They honestly needed to both get cell phones. Rick had one, but rarely used it because the sound system in it hurt his sensitive hearing. The hyrbid began clawing at the horns that lined the sides of his head- it was a horrible nervous habbit of his. 

The front door squeaked open, closed, and then small clicks of Morty's claws against the floor got quieter and quieter as the kid walked down the hall. Rick was suprised the smaller hybrid hadn't come straight to his room. It was a worrying sign. Rick clawed at his flask, wanting so badly to down it all in one go, but Morty had told him he worried with how much alcohol he consumed, so Rick was trying to cut back on how much he drank. 

Rick did a few more laps of back and forth pacing before he finally decided to go check on Morty. He left his room and wemt down the hall, stopping in fron of Morty's door. Rick was just about to open said door when he heard very quiet sobbing. He froze and listened for a while longer. When the sound did not go away, Rick knocked on the door quietly and went in.

Morty was not on his bed, as usual, and was instead curled up with his blue dinosaur blanket on the ceilling. 

"Morty? What's wrong?" Rick demanded, although his voice was gentle and carried no threat. 

Morty froze and quickly hid his head further under his blanket.

Instead of speaking again, Rick reached up and gently stroked Morty's hidden back. The older hybrid could only just barely reach, but it seemed to help Morty relax. The smaller lizard finally shifted and began crawling back down. He kept his blanket firmly over his face. 

"What's wrong?" Rick asked again. 

Morty sniffed and burried his face into Rick's chest. 

"Please come with me next time." Morty mumbled quietly. 

Rick tilted his head in confusion. What had happened? 

"Morty, let me see your face." 

"No one else ever wants to see my face." Morty mumbled back as fresh tears dampened Rick's coat. 

The kid made no move to stop him as Rick tilted his head up. Morty seemed ok until Rick saw his right eye. Around the actual eye was an ugly purple color that stood out against Morty's green scales. The kid's eye was swolled and much more red than usual. 

"What happened?" Rick demanded. 

"It's nothing Rick--"

"What. Happened." Rick interrupted. 

"While my old friend from school and I were talking, a pair of nasty looking Mortys came over and beat us up.." Morty finally confessed. 

Rick's face went cold and devodent of all emotion. "Where did this happen?" 

"It was just a bit away from Morty town- by the school." Morty seemed to eye Rick warrily. "Rick, I'm fine. Honest." 

Rick went to turn and leave the room, hand already grabbing for his portal gun when a tug on his free hand stopped him. 

"Please, Rick. Just stay here?" Rick could hear Morty beginning to get worked up again. 

"Sometimes you really get on my damn nerves, Morty." Rick replied, though his voice seemed to almost have a warmth to it. 

Rick eyed the kid for a moment before pulling him into another hug. 

"You need to put some ice on your eye and rest." Rick said, quietly. 

"Rick? Can you come lay down with me for a little while?" Morty's voice held a small hope. 

"Morty, you're too old to be having me come lay down with you." 

"Pleeeaaase?" 

"Fine.. let's get your ice, first." 

All the while they were walking around the house, Rick refused to let Morty's hand go. He settled the kid down into his bed and layed down next to him. Morty was out like a light in under 30 minutes. 

Rick slowly unattached himself from Morty's gripping arms and shut the smaller hybrid's door quietly behind him. He stood, staring at the wall for a moment before opening a portal and leaving. 

0000

Two Mortys were sat against a wall in Morty town with some sort of very stong metal binding them together. There was a note attached to the front. 

It said, "Do what you need to do with these disgusting exscuses for Mortys. I had to be sure they learned their lesson after messing with my Morty. ~ Love, Rick C-556"


	12. Sick Day!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being sick sucks! Especially when you get hit hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg!! You all are so amazing!! Thank you again for all the comments you've been leaving!! They're all just so sweet!!!

A few months had passed since Morty's encounter with the other Morty's. The ugly purple color that had surrounded his eye was almost no where to be found.

It made Rick smile when he saw how happy the kid looked from time to time. As Rick walked up to the fridge, he felt a cold chill go down his spine, and it made his scales feel uncomfortably cold. He swayed in place for a moment and caught himself before he fell. 

Rick had been feeling horrible for the past few days, but he refused to let it keep him down. Morty didn't know, of course. Rick would force down any sickened feeling he had when the smaller hybrid was around.

He quiet sound of claw taps echoed down the hallway as Morty emerged from his room. Rick quickly straightened himself and forced all of his trembling and shaking to a stop.

"What 'cha doing?" Morty asked as he eyed Rick. 

"What does it look like?" Rick growled back. It came out harsher than he ment. 

Morty looked down at the ground quietly, tapping his claws together as he usually did when he was nervous. 

"Are you drunk again, Rick? I thought... I thought you were cutting back." 

It took Rick a moment to figure why Morty had asked that. He realized he had started wobbling again and his breathing was raspy. 

"No. I have had anything to drink in around four hours." 

Morty sighed, opened the fridge to grab a soda, and left. Rick watched the kid go quietly, hating hinself for making such a nasty comment towards him. The hybrid began clawing at his horns in frustration when he suddenly fell to his knees. His legs had given out under him, and Rick couldn't seem to pull himself back up. 

A very deep cough ratlled Rick's body as he finally pulled himself back up into a standing position. Now worried that Morty would hear his coughing, Rick retreated back to his room all the while wobbling and shivering as he went.

Rick glared at the ground. He didn't have time for this! He had places to go. The hybrid pulled out his portal gun and opened a portal. He stepped through without looking back. 

0000

Morty had searched every room in the house, but Rick was no where to be found. The small hybrid frowned, worried about where Rick would have gone. Morty felt tears begin to weld up in his eyes, though he didn't know why. He went and grabbed the dinosaur blanket that Rick had bought him, and he then went into Rick's room. The kid climbed up into Rick's bed and curled up, crying softly to himself. He covered himself with his blanket and did the only thing he could do: wait. 

0000

Rick wheezed and he had to stop walking through a small town as a coughing fit was triggered. The hybrid frowned when he saw splatters of red hit the floor. Apparently he was coughing up blood. Rick started walking again, only to furrow his brow as a horrible wave of nausia hit him. He grimaced and did his best not to throw up.

The realization that he had to force himself to not puke was enough to finally make Rick return home. The portal closed behind him as he just narrowly missed falling to the floor when he grabbed onto the edge of his desk. He coughed again, this time going for around two minutes. Everything was spinning and Rick felt horrible cold- enough so to make him shiver. When he finally finished coughing, the hybrid wiped the blood that almost dripped from his mouth on his lab coat.

"R-Rick?!" 

Rick spun around, only to decide that it had been a horrible mistake. His eyes met Morty's just before he turned and threw up into a near by trash can. Rick felt Morty at his side in an istant, and it felt almost comforting to know the kid was worried. 

"Oh my god! Rick! What's wrong? What happened? Where were you?" 

There were far too many questions thrown at him at once. Rick took a deep breath and coughed. Finally he turned to look at Morty after wiping his mouth again.

"I'm sick, Morty. Must have caught something from an--" He was broken off by another horrible coughing fit, "--another planet."

Mortt gently grabbed one of Rick's hands and helped the larger hyrbid to his feet. Rick hated how much he was leaning on the kid, but Morty didn't mention it. 

"Why are your eyes red?" Rick asked after examining Morty's eyes. 

"No reason." Morty responded. 

Rick had a sad look on his face for a moment before he hid his emotions again. He didn't like the fact that Morty had been crying about something. The smaller hybrid sat Rick onto his bed and helped the shivering scientist under all seven layers of blankets. Morty added his own dinosaur blanket on top. He seemed to hope that it would maybe make Rick happy.

Rick watched as Morty turned and left the room. He began clawing at his horns again and flinched when he accidently ripped off a scale that had been layering the base of the horn. Morty came back in and stopped when he saw Rick clawing at his horns. 

"Don't do that, Rick! You're hurting yourself!" He stomped over and pulled Rick's arm away from his horns. 

Rick glared at Morty, though he was mainly suprised at the kid's reaction. 

"I do what I want." 

"If I catch you doing that again, god so help me, I'm going to leave!" Morty threatened. 

Although the kid didn't realize it, the threat hit Rick hard. He couldn't lose Morty! No, no, no, no, no! He didn't understand why, maybe it was from being horribly sick, but Rick grasped at Morty's hand, refusing to let go. 

"D-don't....." Rick tried to hold in the coughing fit that seemed to be triggered by his panic, but it didn't help at all.

The hybrid shook so hard and gasped for breath in between coughs. 

"Rick- I'm not- I didn't mean it! I'm not going to leave! Calm down!" Morty stared down at the hand desperately grasping at his own. 

A few moments after he was able to stop coughing, Rick pulled his hand back. He hid himself under his blankets with a quiet growl. He had just shown way too much weakness that could easily be used to hurt him. This Morty may not be his original, but he was still a Morty. He could still hurt Rick.

"Go away, Morty." Rick hissed, "Just let me rest."

Rick didn't turn as Morty sighed quietly and left. The hybrid sat up in his bed for a moment and held his head in his hands as the room spun. He noticed Morty's dino blanket still on top of his own. A tear dripped down onto it, and Rick pulled the blanket close.

He was an emotional mess, and it was disgusting. Whatever kind of sickness he had caught was obviously at fault. More tears dripped down onto his face as Rick grabbed an unopened bottle of hard whiskey. He downed it all and put the battle back with shaking hands. The hybrid coughed deeper than usual and blood dripped down from his mouth and onto his scales. 

By the time Rick's coughing finished, he was having a very difficult time breathing. He wanted Morty back with him. He wanted to apologize to the kid for everything he had done. He wanted Morty to just be happy and not to be stuck with such a horrible Rick, such as himself. It's not like Rick would ever let any other Rick try and take his Morty, but still. 

"I'm sorry, Morty.. I'm sorry you're stuck with me, and I'm sorry for everything." Rick whispered quietly before his vision began to blurr and finally black out as he passed out.

Little did Rick know, Morty had been standing quietly outside his door the whole time. The kid smiled a bit and left for his own room.


	13. Help?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick is still sick, and Morty is worried.

Morty opened Rick's door with his free hand while in his other, he carried a bowl of mashed potatoes. Rick was dead asleep when Morty finally found his face. The smaller hybrid put the bowl of mashed potatoes on Rick's near by desk before going to be the sleeping reptile. 

For a moment, all Morty could bring himself to do was watch. Rick coughed raggedy, which shook Morty out of his trance. He gently placed a hand on Rick's forehead only the pull it back sharply with a surprised hiss. He hadn't even thought it possible for the other hybrid to get so warm!

"Rick, you need to get up and eat something." Morty said quietly. 

It had been almost two days since Morty had last seen Rick eat. When Rick didn't move or show any signs that he was awake, Morty gently shook him. The other hybrid still didn't wake up, but his hand emerged from under the blankets in search of something to hold on to. Morty gave Rick his hand and the scientist squeezed it so hard that Morty was sure he was leaving scratches from his claws.

Morty's tail drooped when Rick wheezed in his sleep. It was a horrible and painful sound. 

"C'mon, Rick. Get up." Morty huffed, using his free hand to shake the larger hybrid again. 

Finally, Rick drowsily opened his eyes. Those usually green tinted eyes were currently red and puffy as though Rick had been crying. Morty knew his eyes were actually like that from constant watering, not crying.

"What do you want?" Rick asked softly. It didn't sound like he could get his voice much louder. 

"You haven't eaten in days." Morty looked down at their still joined hands before using his other hand to grab the bowl of mashed potatoes. "Eat."

"'M not hungry." Rick responded. 

"Rick, just eat it. Please?" 

Rick sighed, but took to bowl. He seemed to realized that one of his hands was attached to Morty's, and pulled it back.

"Do you know what you caught?" Morty asked as Rick began eating. 

"Yeah- but there's apparently no known cure. I'll just have to wait it out."

"It's not contagious, then?"

"Nope." 

Morty shivered as he looked down at the floor. Rick's room was freezing!! He thought about going to grab his blanket, but then remembered that Rick had it. 

"Hey, where did you put my blanket?" 

"You sure do like that blanket." Rick rumbled quietly. He seemed jealous. "It's somewhere under my covers." 

"Oh..." Morty's head drooped. He wanted it back. 

"You can have it as soon as I find it, alright?"

"Ok, thanks." 

The two fell into an awkward silence as Rick finished eating. The older hybrid suddenly sat up and began fumbling around for what Morty assumed was the portal gun.

"H-hey! Lay down!" 

Rick ignored him in order to open a portal. He stood up quickly and automatically fell onto the floor with a growl. Morty's eyes widened and he knelt down besides the larger hybrid. 

"Where do you even think you're going?!" Morty aske. 

"Somewhere important. I need to be there. J-just help me up." 

Morty did as Rick asked and helped him stand up and walk through the green portal. Rick leaned heavily on the kid, and he was practically being carried. 

When they got through, they came face to face with a small, three eyed, black and blue alien Morty had never seen before. 

"Aaah! Rick! You made it!" The alien took in Rick's appearance, "You don't look so good!" 

"Just give me the damn vial, Jax." Rick growled in response. 

The alien, who's name was apparently Jax, began fumbling with a brief case. He handed it over to Rick and looked up at him expectantly. Rick sighed, but handed over some odd glowing rock. 

"Rick? What's going on?" Morty asked. 

"I'll tell you in a moment. Help me back home." 

Morty took the portal gun and once again helped Rick through. He then led Rick back over to his bed where the scientist sat with a releaved sigh. 

"What did we just go do?" 

"Isn't it obvious? I traded with Jax." 

"But what did you need so badly?" 

Rick sat the brief case down on the bed next to him and popped it open to reviel one small glass vial with a bright blue substance inside.

"It'll make you normal again." Rick said quietly.


	14. Normal?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morty never thought he would have the opportunity to be normal again!

"It can make you normal again." 

Rick's statement made Morty freeze. Normal? He could be normal again? 

"But what about you?"

Rick seemed taken aback by the question. 

"Don't worry about me." He said quietly. 

Morty hated how Rick seemed to shake agaisnt his will. The kid knew how much Rick hated being seen during his weak moments, and it was hard for Morty to see him like this. 

"Come here, Morty. You'll be back to normal soon, and we can get you assigned to a new Rick." 

Morty's eyes widened, and he backed up. 

"N-no!" 

"No? Don't you want to be human again?!" Rick had a confused and angry look on his face. He didn't seem to understand how much Morty cared about him. 

"Not if it means you won't be my Rick any more!" Morty eyed the vial in Rick's hands. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to be human again. 

Rick stared at Morty before a nasty cough wracked his body. 

"I don't understand."

"What is there to not understand! I'm not leaving you, Rick!"

"Morty, there has to be something wrong with you. You're broken. Let me give you this stuff, and then you can stop being a hybrid! No one will make fun of you, no one will single you out, and you'll be a lot less noticeable in crowds!" Rick's tail twitched back and forth as he spoke. 

"I don't care if I'm broken! Good god, Rick! You must be the broken one! I don't want to be normal!" Morty shouted, "Being here, with you, is so much better than how my old life was!" 

Rick's eyes seemed to soften, "But why would you rather be stuck with me when you could have a normal life? When you're with me, you just get hurt. I stand out, and when you're with me, you stand out even more." 

Morty sighed and crossed his arms. "You get so emtional when you're sick." 

Rick narrowed his eyes, "Morty, for the love of god, just come over here." 

"NO! Rick! When am I going to get it through your thick skull that I don't want to leave?! I don't want another Rick, and I certainly don't want to be human again!" Morty wailed, "I like how I am now! And I like how you are too!" 

Rick fumbled for words, which was extremely unusual for him. "Morty, are you sure?" 

Morty nodded and his tail swished in a mannor to show he was sticking with his decision. Rick sighed and put the vial back into the brief case. Morty inched closer as Rick began searching for something. 

"Here." Rick held out Morty's dinosaur blanket, but he refused to make any sort of eye contact.

Morty smiled and took the blanket into his arms, hugging it close. Joy filled his chest at the sight of his one and only possession. 

"Thank you!" Morty finally moved close enough to sit down next to Rick and hug the older hybrid. 

Rick was still shaking, but Morty didn't mind. He knew the other couldn't help it, and he knew Rick probably hated himself for it. 

"Do you think you'll be over being sick soon?" Morty asked, hopefully. 

"Eventually. As it is, I'm already doing a bit better than when it first started." Rick responded. 

"Good." Morty mumbled. "You need to eat!" He said suddenly. 

Morty stood and quickly left the room in search of something to bring back to Rick. By the time he was able to come back with a quickly tossed together salad, Rick had dosed off. The smaller hybrid shook him awake and forced him to eat the salad. He knew Rick much preferred meat over vegetables, but the older hybrid needed nutrition.

Rick began reaching for a bottle of alcohol, but Morty slapped his hand away and instead gave him a bottle of water he had brought along. Rick stared at the bottle, annoyed. 

"Why I listen to you, I don't know." He hissed as he drank some of the water. 

Morty laughed at that, and a happy grin split his face.

"When I come in to check on you later, I expect that water bottle to be empty." Morty warned. 

Rick growled and rolled his eyes, but he took the water bottle with him as he curled up under his covers. 

"What ever, Morty. Not like you could do anything to me anyway." 

Morty smiled fondly and turned to leave Rick to his privacy.


	15. Just A Run-In With Some Old Pals

Mutliple weeks had passed, and Rick felt so much better. His sickness had finally gone away, and he was thankful for it.

Rick had taken Morty to a planet known for its dance clubs. The kid had been begging to go ever since he had heard about it. Rick eventually gave in after multiple days of constant and seemingly never ending asking.

Rick watched quietly as Morty gazed around at all the shops and clubs in wonder. It was night on this particular planet, so beautiful pastel colored lights lit up the outside area. Although Morty was excited, Rick was having a hard time letting himself relax. Something felt off, but the hybrid couldn't put a finger on whatever it was. 

"This place is amazing!" Morty said excitedly ad he began climbing on the side of a building.

Rick rolled his eyes, "Sure it is." The older hybrid found the area to be fairly nice.

Morty stuck his tongue out, probably tasting the air with it. 

"I smell something good!" He said after a moment.

"I assume that means I'm buying you dinner, huh?" 

Morty let a sheepish grin spread across his face. 

"Please, Rick!" 

"Yeah, fine." Rick was smiling lightly as Morty skittered off.

0000

The kid led him to a small, Italian based restaurant where he ordered chicken alfredo pasta and a lemonade. Rick ordered beef ravioli with hard whiskey. While they ate, Rick spotted someone who looked familiar duck into an alleyway outside, after sending a quick glance over to the restaurant. The hybrid narrowed his eyes, watching where the person had disappeared into the alleyway. Morty said something, and Rick quickly looked down at him. 

"--n! Where should we go after this? Maybe into one of the clubs?" Rick tuned into Morty's talking halfway through. 

"Yeah, we can go inside one of them." Rick responded. He wasn't really focused on Morty at the moment. 

Morty didn't seem to notice how distracted Rick suddenly was and just continued talking. The older hybrid would nod and randomly grunt as Morty spoke, so the kid would think he was listening to him. Rick kept an eye on the outside world, becoming even more suspicious when he saw three other familiar looking people shuffle into the same alleyway.

"Your bill, sir."

The waitor was shoving something that carried the bill in Rick's face, and the hybrid didn't appreciate it at all. Rick snatched up the bill, shoved some cash in it, and handed it back to the waitor.

"Finish your lemonade, Morty." Rick mumbled, absently watching as the kid drained the cup. 

Morty stood up and pushed in his chair, then waited excitedly for Rick. The older hybrid did the same after downing his drink, and allowed Morty to grab his hand and pull him along.

Now that they were outside, Rick was a lot more warry. He couldn't seem to place the familiar faces he had seen before. All he had to go on was a rising sense of danger and dread. Morty had taken notice to Rick's odd behavior and gently tugged on the older hybrid's arm to get his attention.

"What's wrong?" Morty asked. 

"It's nothing. Just thought I had seen someone I knew." Rick responded, happy when Morty seemed to believe it.

Rick made eye contact with someone and made up his mind. He freed his arm from Morty's grasp and gently pushed the kid towards a club. 

"Head on in, Morty. I just remembered that there's a shop near by that sells Hyrpraxian crystals!" 

Morty looked back at Rick skeptically. 

"Are you going to be ok without me?" The kid asked.

Rick nodded, and Morty scampered off. As much as Rick would have rather gone inside with the small lizard, he wanted to take care of their stalkers first. 

The hybrid put his hands into his lab coat pockets and walked into a near by alleyway. Moments after he went down there, four aliens of different species came out from the shadows. Rick still couldn't place a name to their faces, or why he knew them.

"Yer goin' soft, Rick!" One of them said. 

"Yeah! Yer little ugly buddy seems to have left ya." Anthor said with a large grin. 

The other two were quiet as all four of them advanced on the hybrid. Rick's face dulled from curiosity to boredom. He sighed heavily and tapped at a watch under his sleeve. 

"Listen, boys. I was going to let you off easy, but then you went and insulted my grandson." Rick watched them all passively. 

One of the aliens- a massive bipedal cat-like creature- lept at Rick. The hybrid groand as he ducked, grabed the feline with his tail, and used the momentum the cat had built up from jumping to launch him in the opposite direction. The cat slammed into the wall, and his head made a loud cracking noise as it hit the wall. 

"Come on. Let's get this over with. I don't have all night." Rick grumbled. 

The other three glanced at each other, and then suddenly all dove for Rick at the same time. The hybrid rolled his eyes and jumped. When he came back down, he landed on their heads as they all crashed into each other. Rick growled and looked down at his claws. 

"Don't insult my Morty." He hissed as he pulled out his gun. 

Four gunshots echoed through the crisp night air as Rick strolled out of the alleyway and towards the club Morty had gone into. It wasn't hard to spot the kid, as he was sittinf quietly at a table by himself. Rick went over and sat next to him. 

"Hey." Rick greeted. 

"Hi. Did you get your crystal, or whatever?" 

"Yeah. I brought it home." 

"Ok. Wanna dance?" 

"Sure, Morty. Why not."


	16. Dance Time!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morty and Rick are at a dance club! What else do you expect to happen other than dancing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I highly recommend listening to the electro swing song Booty Swing while you read!!! Also! I got a message from someone recently who asked me if they were allowed to draw fan art for this fic. Guys! The answer to that will ALWAYS be yes! The fact that someone would take the time to draw something based off of what I wrote is just so surreal to me! It would honestly make my day to see something like that!!

"Come on, Rick!" Morty calls excitedly after he skidded away from the song device inside the dance club.

Rick rolled his eyes, but followed Morty onto the dance floor as some Electro Swing song began playing. 

"What even is this song?" Rick asked as he stepped up onto the dance floor. 

"It's called Booty Swing!" Morty replied, "I love it!" 

Rick sighed, and his eyes widened as Morty grabbed his hands and began dancing with him. Rick snorted at the smaller hybrids attempts and took over the fast paced dance. Rick began stepping in time with the beat and letting his tail sway behind him as he spun Morty around in a circle. 

He dipped the kid and smirked. Mory gave him a confused look before Rick threw him up into the air and caught him without stumbling once. 

"Wow, Rick! I didn't know that you knew how to dance!" Morty said in between giggles. 

Rick snorted, "Of course I do." 

He let go of Morty in order to try a more freestyle kind of dance. Morty was bobbing his head and kicking his feet. His arms flailed awkwardly, but he didn't seem to care. 

Rick spun around in a circle, his tail flowing nicely behind him as he did so. He slid to the left and pumped out his arms in time with the beat. 

Morty spun around and moved closer to Rick. Their tails entwined for a moment before they both pulled apart. Rick was rarely on his feet with the amount of jumping and kicking he was doing. 

Rick caught out of the corner of his eye as Morty slipped. He reacted quickly, grabbing the younger hybrid's hand and pulling him back up into a spin like nothing had happened. Morty grinned thankfully. 

"Thanks!" 

"Whatever Morty." Rick's voice sounded annoyed, but his face was lit up with rare happiness. 

Morty smiled happily and quickly hugged the larger hybrid. Rick actually laughed. His body shook with how hard he did so.

"Good god, Morty! This isn't some slow couple song!" He exclaimed. 

Morty snorted and let go, going straight back to dancing. By now, the music had switched to another fasted paced song. Rick was surprised at how much he was able to dance after the fourth song had ended. Morty was still going as well, but it was obvious the kid was getting tired. 

"C'mon, Morty! Let's go get something to drink!" 

"Riiick! I'm underaged!" 

"Then we'll get you a lemonade or something. Maybe they have smoothies at a shop next door." 

"That sounds good!" 

"Alright, let's go, then." 

Rick smiled as Morty took his hand again amd led him out of the club. The hybrid knew that he shouldn't allow himself to get so attached, but this Morty was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He cared deeply about the kid. 

"Hurry up, Rick!" Morty exclaimed, pulling on Ricks arm. 

"I'm coming."


	17. Morty!!

In the past few weeks, Rick had been taking Morty on adventures, as would any Rick. Those adventures had gone extremely well! 

Even now, the adventure they were on was going well. Rick had climed up a tower wall with Morty close behind, and they had gone straight through the highest window with no problem.

"Is that what we're looking for, Rick?" Morty asked, pointing to a glowing blue orb. 

"Yeah, Morty. It is."

Rick took the orb into his hands and turned back to Morty with a grin. 

"Alright, let's--" Rick was cut off by a door on the opposite side of the room flying off its hinges. 

Aliens wearing thick armour rushed into the room. Their faces were hidden by blank, black masks that almost looked like turned off computer screens. They all held guns and weapons of various sizes. 

"Put the orb down!" One of them shouted. 

"Yeah! Then put your hands into the air!" A second one hollered. 

The aliens all had their guns pointed at the two hybrids. Morty had frozen where he stood, and he was currently staring fearfully at the creatures around them. Rick furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes. 

"Damn it." He hissed, dropping the orb.

One of the guards stepped forwards and took the orb before backing up again. Rick watched him carefully, his tail twitched in annoyance. 

"God- those things are hiddious!" One of the guards hissed. 

Morty cringed at the insult and Rick snarled. He was slowly inching his hand closer to the inside of his lab coat as the aliens came closer and began to search Morty for weapons. 

The small hybrid whined uncomfortably as he was searched. The noise made Rick's scales feel like they were being rubbed the wrong way, and he hiss again. He felt his hand come into contact with his gun as he grabbed into it and pulled it out. 

The scientist grinned as he fired the weapon and one of the aliens near by had his head blown off. Just moments after the creature's body hit the floor, another guard's fist connected painfully with Rick's face. The forces caused the hybrid to stumble backwords a swear loudly. Multiple guards were on top of him in a instant, and they held him stomach-down on the floor. 

"Rick!" Morty screamed, "Help!" 

Rick could only see a quick glance as the guards shoved Morty out the space where they had originally kicked the door in. The older hybrid's heart clentched as he lost sight of his adopted grandson. 

"Morty!" 

Rick tried to push against the aliens on top of him, but there was just too much weight piled on top of him. One of the aliens seemed to be sick of his futile efforts and stomped directly on Rick's arm- and hard. There was a horrible cracking sound, and Rick couldn't hold back the scream of pain.

Rick screwed his eyes shut as pain flooded through his body. His arm had snapped, which ment it was broken. They were taking Morty... Morty! 

"Let go of me!" Rick shouted, his struggling becoming even more violent. 

The hyrbid sunk his claws deep into one of the aliens' leg and thrashed his tail against the ones behind him. The alien hit the floor, and Rick saw his opening. He squirmed out from under the pile and sprinted after the guards who had taken Morty. He held his broken arm close to his chest in an attempt to not jostle it as he ran. 

The guards hadn't gotten far, and Rick could hear Morty crying. 

"Rick! Please! Help!" The kid was screaming. 

One of the guards kicked Morty in the leg and shoved him forwards. Rick hissed at the display and rammed right into the guard before turning and punching another directly in the face- mask? 

A gunshot fired and time seemed to slow down. Rick's eyes widened and began screaming things like, "Morty, move!" Of course, the kid had no idea how to react. The alien bullet hit Morty and shoved the kid backwords as blood splattered onto the floor. 

"MORTY!" 

Rick ripped a gun from one of the alien's hands and shot the few remaining guards around them. He threw the gun to the ground and slid onto the ground next to Morty. 

Blood had began to pool on the floor underneath the small hybrid. Morty was breathing hard and tears flowed freely from his face. The kid seemed to be having a hard time focussing on things around him, but he kept repeating Rick's name. 

Rick ignored the sound of footsteps as more guards rushed to their location in order to carefully gather Morty into his arms. 

"Y-you're going to be ok, Morty. You're going to be ok." Rick was saying it more to convince himself than anything. 

The older hybrid fumbled for his portal gun, which proved to be difficult with a broken arm. Rick elected to ignore his excruciating pain. When he finally had the portal gun in his hand, he pulled the trigger and lept through the portal. Rick could feel tears dripping down his face as he rushed Morty into his room and gently placed him on his bed. As Rick turned to grab supplies, he felt a gentle tug at his hand. He turned to see Morty looking up at him. 

"I'm gonna miss you, Rick." He said quietly. 

"You're not dying! You're staying right here with me!" Rick gerked his hand away from the kid and rushed to grab supplies. 

The older hybrid returned with everything he would need in his good arm- his broken one was useless-, which he quickly transfered to the bed. He pulled Morty's shirt up to get a better looked at the gunshot wound. 

"Don't you dare go to sleep, Morty!" Rick hissed as the kid's eyes started to close. 

"'M so tired, Rick." 

"D-don't speak." 

0000

Hours had gone by, and Rick looked down at Morty's still form. The scientist quietly wiped away his tears. Thankfully, the kid was breathing, but it was shallow. 

"Damn it, Morty." Rick muttered, "Don't ever scare me like that again."

For a moment, all Rick could do was gently pet Morty's head. 

"I love you." He whispered.


	18. Please Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick finally tells Morty his backstory!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. My. God! There has been so much love on this fic! Thank you all so much! I never expected for this story to become so popular!!you guys are amazing, and I'm so glad that I can share my writing with you all!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the support!! 
> 
> To the new commers, I have a Tumblr ask account for Lizard Rick! You can find it at @lizardhybridrick!!

"Rick!" 

The older hybrid cringed as his name was called. He could hear Morty's sobs as he quickly went down to his room and opened the door. The kid was clutching at his side and was whimpering in pain. 

"Here, Morty. Take these." Rick gave Morty a handful of pills and a cup of water. 

The smaller hybrid's hand shook as he took the items from Rick. After downing the pills he went to reach for Rick's arm and stopped. 

"What happened to your arm?" Morty asked in between his sobs. 

"Don't worry about it, Morty." Rick responded, "Here, let me go get your blanket."

Rick disappeared out the door as he went to go grab Morty's dinosaur blanket. He still couldn't grasp as to why the kid loved it so much, but he didn't mind. When Rick returned, Morty grabbed at the blanket and pulled it close. 

"What happened to your arm, Rick?" Morty asked again. 

Rick sighed and looked down at his mangled and broken arm. He hadn't had the time to try and wrap it in anything yet, so it looked horribly twisted and ugly, and it hurt like hell. 

"One of the guards stomped on it." Rick admitted. 

"Aren't you in pain?" 

"Of course I am, but I had to keep you alive." 

Morty sniffed quietly; however, his pain seemed to be fading as the pills worked their magic. 

"Hey, Rick?"

"Yeah?" 

"Could you please tell me what happened to you to make you half lizard?" Morty asked, his voice almost a whisper. 

Rick sighed again and sat down on the bed. 

"Fine. But I swear to god, if you start pitying me-" 

"I won't!" Morty interrupted. 

Rick rolled his eyes and mentally prepared himself to finally tell this story.

"Firstly, you need to understand that my original Morty was not.. he wasn't very, well, Morty-like. He was manipulative and highly intelligent." Rick paused to tap his claws together for a moment. "He would use Beth and Summer against me, and he would use himself, because he knew how I am unlike most Ricks. I have a harder time when it comes to not allowing myself to get attached to people- and it's absolute bull crap!" 

Rick felt Morty slip his tail out from under the blankets in order to wrap it around Rick's. It was probably suppose to be comforting. 

"Anyway, Morty eventually decided to try and get the jump on me. He stabbed a syringe in my neck and just watched with that damn grin on his face as I--" Rick stopped again and rubbed at his eyes, "--as I turned into a hybrid. The little bastard taunted me with the fact that the effects were irreversable, an he kicked me while I was down- but I got sick of that crap real quick. I stabbed him, Morty. Stabbed him with my own claws." 

"You killed him?" Morty asked quietly. 

"What else could I do? He was holding Beth and Summer hostage against me- he wanted to rip me open!" Rick snarled, "I never... I never wanted to kill him, Morty. I hadn't even ment to.." 

Morty furrowed his brow as he slowly sat himself up. He avoided Rick's broken arm as he hugged the larger hybrid. Rick stared at him for a moment, confused. He didn't understand why Morty would still want to be around him after all the crap he put him through. 

"You did what you had to, Rick." 

"I could have saved him, Morty. I could have tried to help him." 

"But if you had, I would never have gotten you as my Rick." 

Rick mentally kicked himself as a tear dripped from his face onto Morty's head. There had been too much crying recently. Too much weakness and pain. 

"Go to sleep, Morty." Rick said quietly as he pet Morty's head with his good hand. 

"Only if you promise to go take care of your arm." Morty mumbled. 

"Ugh... Fine, Morty. You're so demanding." Rick grumbled as he wiggled his way out of Morty's grip and stood. 

The older hybrid glanced back at Morty just before he left the room, and was glad to find the kid curled back up under Rick's blankets. As he left the room, he made sure to shut the door quietly.


	19. C-37B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone believes that Rick owns them money..

Rick left the house that he and Morty shared and began making his way to a bar he tended frequent. Morty had been dead asleep when he had left the house, and Rick decided to take the opportunity to go out and have a drink. Before he had left, Rick had made sure to listen to Morty and put his broken arm in a sling.

The hybrid opened the front door to the bar with his good arm and walked inside. It was filled with Ricks, as was the usual, but there were a few Mortys running around as well. Rick could have sworn that he saw a Summer go into the back somewhere. 

Rick sighed as he walked over to the bar and sat down on one of the stools. The bartender- a taller than usual Morty- came up to him and took his order before scurrying off. Rick kept his head down and rested it on his hand as he waited. 

"Heyo, buddy! What happened to your arm?" The Rick sitting next to him had turned and began speaking. 

"It's called, none of your business." The hybrid hissed, barely even glancing at the other Rick. 

"Whatever you say, pal." The other Rick finally turned away just as the bartender handed Rick his drink. 

"Thanks." Rick mumbled as he took the glass into his hand. 

He sat queitly, every now and then taking a drink from his glass. Rick hated how he felt bad for drinking it. Sometimes he really hated his Morty.. 

"Hey, look! It's C-37B!" 

Rick's head shot up. He wasn't used to being called by his original universe's number. The hybrid turned to get a look at who had said his name, and there were two very familiar Ricks standing behind him. One had a fedora on his head, and Rick recalled his name being Z-445. The second Rick had horns poking out of his head, and he had sharp teeth. His name was something like Z-167C.

"What the hell do you guys want?" Rick growled at them as he narrowed his eyes. 

The two Ricks began to laugh and one of them suddenly jerked on Rick's tail, making him fall backwords out of his seat. 

"You owe us money, 37B." Z-445 said with a smirk.

Rick groaned and held his head for a moment, trying to ignore the pounding from slamming against the hard floor. He didn't even realized that he was being dragged out of the bar until one of the two Ricks grabbed at his throat and squeezed. The hybrid wheezed in pain, and he desperately gasped for breath. The Rick released his hold and stepped back. 

"Awww! Look! He broke his arm!" Z-167C snickered. 

Rick coughed deeply as he got multiple breaths of air to his lungs. He knew he could fight back and win against these two. Not with a broken arm. 

"Fork up the money, C-37B. Or else we'll just have to hurt ya even more." Z-445 hissed. 

Rick didn't reply, which earned him a swift and painful kick to his ribs. 

"Now!" The Rick repeated. 

Again, they received no response. 

"Damn it! Guess we'll just have to beat the crap out of you!" 

Rick grinned, "Do your worse, you pathetic bastards." 

That seemed to make his offenders crack, as they both began to kick him hard. Multiple kicks were aimed for the same spot on his rib cage, and Rick growled in pain as he felt something break inside him. It was hard, so very hard not to scream in pain, but there was no way Rick was going to give those two idiots the satisfaction of know they hurt him. 

"You go for his arm, and I'll got for his head!" 

The hybrid tried to protect his broken arm, but one of the Ricks clawed at it, and yanked it out from under him. Z-167C aimed a powerful kick at the broken limb, and this time Rick couldn't surpress the yelp of pain that tore its way from his throat. He didn't have much time to dwell on his arm before he was kicked harshly in the face. 

Blood dripped from Rick's mouth and arm. His broken rib was shrieking in pain, and all the hybrid could do was try and curl into himself. All that did was further anger the two Ricks above him, and one of them grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. Rick was slammed into a near by wall with a hand still squeezing his throat. 

"A-are you d-done y-yet?" Rick spluttered out. 

Z-167C snarled and punched Rick in the face, causing more blood to drip from the hybrid's mouth. 

"We want our money, Rick." One of them hissed. 

"W-well, tough l-luck." Rick replied. 

The hybrid's broken arm had at some point been ripped from the sling, and it was now currently hanging limoy at his side. 

"Let's go, 167C." Z-445 growled as he released Rick's throat. 

Rick fell to the floor with a thud. He could feel his whole body shaking violently, and it protested wildely as he tried to move. The other two Ricks were gone by now and were nowhere to be seen. 

Rick finally was able to stand up and use the wall for some much needed support. However, as soon as he was up, he threw up onto the floor. Morty was not going to be happy when he saw Rick's condition, but it couldn't be helped. 

Fresh and ugly bruises were already beginning to show up and contrast against Rick's natural orange colored scales. The hybrid was fairly sure he had a black eye, but he obviously couldn't tell until he got to a mirror. 

Thankfully, Rick's portal gun had somehow survived the beating, and the lizard quickly portaled home. Not really thinking about it, Rick went to his room and collapsed onto the floor, since Morty was still asleep on the bed. His vision blurred before going black as the hybrid fell unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! You guys asked for angst, so I gave you angst!


	20. R-Rick?!

Morty opened his eyes and groaned at the throbbing pain in his side. The familiar tang of blood flooded his nose, and he tried to sit up. The blood wasn't coming from him- but who else? 

"Rick?" 

Morty caught a glance of Rick's tail tip on the floor from the corner of his eye. The smaller hybrid finally pushed himself up into a sitting position so that he could fully see Rick, who was for some reason on the floor. 

The reason for Rick's odd resting place soon became evident. The scientist seemed to be unconscious, but what worried Morty were the bright purple bruises that stood out vividly when compared to Rick's orange scales. However, Morty could only see the older hybrid's back, as he was laying stomach down on the floor. 

Morty carefully climbed out of Rick's bed and sat down next to the older hybrid. He decided to risk flipping Rick over, so he could better see if there were any more bruises. 

"Oh my god...." Morty whispered when he got a good look at Rick's front side. 

The scientist was not at all in good shape. One of his eyes was black and blue- it seemed to be swelling up-, Rick's broken arm was laying in an awkward and painful looking position besides him with red stains surrounding it that had soaked through the sleeve, he had bruises over almost every visable patch of scales, and his breathing was shallow and raspy. There were markings on Rick's throat that told far to much as to why he was having a difficult time breathing. 

"Wake up, Rick." Morty said as he very gently shook the other hybrid, "Wake up." 

Rick's eyes opened; however, his normally black slited pupils were tiny. For a second, the scientist looked like he was going to leap at Morty, but recognition flooded his gaze, and he seemed to let himself relax. 

"What the hell do you want, Morty?" He asked hoarsely.   
"What happened to you?!" Morty asked quickly as he continued to look Rick's broken and beaten body up and down. 

"I got jumped."

"Take off your shirt." Morty commanded. 

"Why?" 

"Just do it!"

Rick sighed and tried to pull both his lab coat and shirt off. He succeeded in removing the lab coat, but Morty had to help him get his shirt off. As soon as Rick's scales were in view, Morty cringed. It was far worse than he had been expecting. Bruises and torn scales littered the older hybrid's body, but there was one specific thing that drew Morty's attention. 

"It's not as bad as it looks." Rick said quietly, stiffening under Morty's horrified expression. 

There was blood crusted over one side of Rick's rib cage, and it seemed to have come from one spot where a sort of protrusion could be seen. 

"You broke your rib cage, didn't you?!" Morty hissed. 

"I didn't break it. The idiot Ricks who jumped me did." Rick replied. 

"How am I supposed to fix a broken rib cage?!" Morty screamed. 

"You can't. It'll heal on its own."

Morty sighed and helped Rick put his shirt back on. He knew that he couldn't do anything to help. 

"I can take care of most of my injuries. I'll be fine." Rick said quietly.

"First you get mauled by some creature, then you got shot in the shoulder, next was a broken arm, and now this?! What is with you, Rick?!" Morty grumbled with a huff. 

"Yeah, I know. It's like somebody is writing a story about us and she just really enjoys beating me up."

"Don't joke about stuff like that, Rick." 

Rick rolled his eyes, but showed a small smile. Morty stared at Rick's throat for a moment, silently curing which ever Ricks had jumped, choaked, and beat up his Rick. 

"I'll take care of my body when I wake up again." Rick suddenly wheezed as he shut his eyes. 

"At least sleep on your bed, Rick." 

"That's where you've been sleeping, Morty." 

"I don't care. I'll just go back to my own room." 

"Fine. But I'm using your dinosaur blanket." Rick said with a light snicker. 

"No!!" Morty stood up and grabbed his blanket, hugging it close. "Get your own!" 

Rick snorted, winced, and repeated. Morty quickly decided to help the older hybrid into his bed before he hurt himself further. 

"G'night, Rick." Morty mumbled as he left the room. 

"Good night."


	21. Honey?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The past can hurt..

Rick had been 'recovering' from his fight for around a week now. Obviously, his broken arm and broken rib would not heal that quickly, but he was tired of just laying around and doing nothing. 

He pushed himself out of his bed and stood there, wobbling for a moment. The hybrid went down to Morty's room, once again finding the kid asleep on the ceilling. 

"Get up, Morty." Rick said loudly. 

"I'm up! I'm up!"Morty squealed as he dropped from the ceilling and landed on his feet. 

"Let's go." Rick said bluntly. 

"Where?" Morty seemed excited, though he was eyeing the sling around Rick's neck with suspicion. 

"Out." 

"Your arm is still broken. And your rib probably is too." 

"I've delt with worse. I'm not sitting around and wasting my damn life anymore today." Rick grumbled, crossing his arms the best he could. 

"Just go easy, alright?" 

Rick nodded in response and opened a portal. He quietly entwined his tail with Morty's as he led the smaller hybrid through the portal.

"What are we doing here?" Morty asked after stepping out of the portal. 

The two had arrived at what looked to be Morty's old high school on Earth. The building was empty and dark, aside from a few security lights. 

"I needed to grab a few things from the garage at.. Beth's house." 

"Then why did we portal here, and not there?" 

"I can only take so much anxiety at a time, Morty. I don't want to go there right away and risk having a panic attack." Rick admitted. 

Morty's eyes widened for a moment, but he shook his head and followed after Rick as the larger hybrid began walking. 

"Was this your original dimention?" Morty asked while they walked. 

"Yeah. Yeah, it was." 

The two walked on in silence until they finally left the building. The moon shone brightly in the sky, once and for all proving that it was night. Rick kept his head low, and he tended to keep to the shadows. He was worried Beth or Summer would be outside for some reason or another.

"I haven't been here in like a year." Morty mumbled as he gazed around. 

"And I haven't been here in around two." Rick responded. 

The hybrid had stayed away from this place after his family had kicked him out. He was only here again because he had recieved notification that something he had left at the house had come back online.

It wasn't much longer before their old home came into view. Rick froze at the sight of it, and he just kind of stared at the building. He could only just barely feel Morty tugging at his good arm as he began to fall into another of his flashback episodes. 

0000

Beth screamed in horror when she walked into the garage. Rick jolted at the sound, and he tried to curl into the shadows around him. Morty's dead body lay before him, and there was blood splattered on the ground. 

"M-Morty!" Beth ran to her dead son and knelt down. 

Rick could hear her beginning to sob. He hated that noise with a passion- it made him want to reach out to his daughter. But, he didn't want her to see him as he was now: a disgusting creature. As he backed up as far as he could against the wall, his tail- yes. He had a tail now..- slammed into something he couldn't see, causing whatever it was to hit the floor. Beth's gaze went straight to him.

"Dad? I-is that you?" She asked, standing up and letting her tears fall freely from her face. 

"It is." Rick said quietly. 

"What- you....." Realization flooded Beth's tear filled eyes, "You killed Morty!" She screamed. 

Rick stood himself up and tried to explain himself, but Beth quickly cut him off. 

"You bastard! I trusted you- I loved you! Damn it! I even looked up to you!" She hollered. 

"Beth--" 

"No! Don't "Beth" me. You- Ugh! And now you're some disgusting creature too?!" 

"I didn't want to kill him, Beth!" Rick yelled back, bristling at the insult. "Your son did this to me!!" 

"Oh! So now you're going to blame my dead child?! You sick bastard! Get the hell out of my house!" 

Rick's eyes widened, "Honey, this about th--" 

"GET OUT!" Beth screamed as she threw what looked to be a wrench at his head. 

Rick dodged to the side to avoid the wrench. Both him and Beth froze as Summer's voice roase above their's. 

"I'm trying to sleep!" She yelled.

"Summer, not now." Beth said sternly. 

"Why not?!" 

"Because your bastard of a grandpa killed Morty!" There were tears dripping down Beth's face again, and her whole body shook. 

Summer's eyes widened, and Rick stared helplessly at his family. He shook his head, scrambling to grab his portal gun. He opened a portal, pulled out a button, pushed said button, and disappeared through the swirling green portal. 

0000

"---K!" 

"RI--!" 

"RICK!" 

Rick shook his head, looking down at Morty in confusion before realizing where he was. The smaller hybrid was looking up at him, obviously worried. 

"I'm here, Morty. I'm fine." Rick grumbled as he began walking again. 

"We should come back some other time, Rick." Morty protested. 

Rick shook his head firmly and made his was to the front of the garage. There was a hidden button on the wall, which he pressed. The garage door silently opened and Rick stepped inside. 

"Oh my god... Dad?"


	22. Go Away, Rick.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our lizard boys meet Rick's original Beth.

"Dad?" Beth's eyes were wide as she stared at Rick and Morty. 

Rick's tail was twitching in a nervous fashion as he looked back at his daughter. She looked the same as she had before, aside from having dark bags under her puffy red eyes. She had bloody surgeon clothing on, so she must have gotten home recently. 

"Rick?" Morty ask quietly, tugging gently on Rick's arm. 

The hybrid looked down at Morty and took a deep, shaky breath. 

"I'm surprised you recognize me." Rick spat as he turned back to Beth. "Aren't I just some disgusting creature to you?"

Beth seemed taken aback by the statement. She took a few steps forwards, tears beginning to form in her eyes. 

"I thought I told you to leave and not come back." She said suddenly. 

"Beth, I'm your father. I can do whatever the hell I want." The hybrid hissed, his tail lashing from side to side for a moment. 

"Go away, Rick!" She yelled, "I don't ever want to see you or whatever that thing is next to you again!"

Morty didn't even bat an eye at the insult. He just glared at Beth with some unknown hatred. 

"I'm your god damn son!" Morty finally growled, "Maybe not from this universe, but I'm a version of your Morty!" 

Rick was surprised by Morty's sudden outburst. He had never heard the kid yell like that. 

"Morty, it's fine. Calm down." Rick said quietly. 

Beth had fallen silent and was quietly staring at Morty. She didn't seem to be all there. 

"M-Morty?" She said softly, slowly walking towards the smaller hybrid, "Did this bastard turn you into a mini version of himself?" 

"NO!" Morty pulled away from Beth, almost as though he'd been burned. "Rick has given me a new and better life than I ever would have had if my original Rick was still alive!" 

Beth flinched back at Morty's shout. She sighed shakily and pulled a full bottle of wine off the counter next to her. 

"Beth, just let me get something, and we'll leave." Rick said quietly. 

The hybrid wanted to reach out, so badly. He wanted to try and comfort his broken daughter, but he knew just how she would react.

"Fine, Dad. Just be quick. I don't want Summer to see you." She said before she took a huge drink from the wine bottle. 

Rick nodded and swept past her and began pulled a remote control from his pocket.

"Morty, stay here."

He pressed a button on it and a recently hidden door popped up from the floor. He closed it behind him as he went down. Rick made it down the stairs and slid onto the ground for a moment. His breathing was raggeded as he lifted his shirt to check his broken rib. Apparently something had shifted and ripped open the skin under his scales, causing trickles of blood to seep out from underneath. Rick elected to put pressure on it with his good arm and continue on.

0000

Morty stared at Beth, and she stared right back. She was his mother, and he loved her- but... She had been horrible to Rick, and his version of Beth had kicked him out... 

"You know that Rick was forced to kill your Morty, right?" 

"No he didn't, Morty. He killed him in cold blood. Don't let him corrupt you." Beth replied sternly. 

Morty narrowed his eyes, "He's not corrupting me." He growled, "You know what? You don't appreciate him enough. Rick may be a complete jerk sometimes, but he's more caring than you'll ever be." 

With that, Morty turned and walked out of the garage. He lashed his tail as he turned to show that he was done talking. The little hybrid sat went and sat on the curb, quietly waiting for Rick to come back. 

0000

Rick gently shook Morty awake and helped the smaller hybrid to his feet. Apparently the kid had accidentally nodded off while he had been away. 

"Let's go, Morty. We're done here." Rick said. 

In his arms, Rick held a small device. He handed it to Morty so he could open a portal. 

"Dad, wait!" Beth shouted after Morty had disappeared through the portal. 

"What the hell do you want?!" Rick snarled as he spun around to face her. 

"Take this and never come back." She said, handing him a piece of paper. 

Rick took the paper and regaurded her coldly before following Morty through the swirling green mass.


	23. Paper Plane

Rick closed the door to his room and sat down on the bed. He carefully pulled out the paper Beth and given him and opened it up.

The hybrid quietly read over the paper. He growled quietly, crumbled the paper, and threw it as hard as he could across the room. He had much better things to do! Such as drinking enough alcohol to numb himself from the world. 

0000

Morty sat quietly in his room with his computer placed comfortably on his lap. Rick had given it to him fairly recently, and Morty was taking full advantage of it. Currently, he was scrolling through his old dimension's news page. 

A loud banging on his door made the small hybrid jump. Morty looked up just as Rick stumbled into the room. As soon as the older hybrid entered the room, Morty could smell the alcohol he had consumed. He quietly shut his laptop and stood up. 

"Rick? I thought you were gonna lay off on the drinking.." He said with a small frown.

Rick had been staring at the ground and seemed genuinely surprised to see Morty standing there. 

"I n-n-needed a little something, Morty! J-just a little something!" Rick's voice shook badly as he spoke.

Morty walked closer to the scientist in concern. 

"Is this about Mo- Beth?" He asked.

"Of c-course not, Morty! W-why would it be about h-her?!" 

"It is, Rick, isn't it?" Morty eyed Rick's lab coat for a moment, and he was saddened by the dark crimson color about the scientist's rib cage. 

Rick didn't respond to the accusation. He just swayed in place for a moment before walking further into the room. 

"You're drunk, Rick. Just go lay down." 

Rick shook his head and for a moment, he looked like he was just going to fall over. 

"Nooooo... 'M not g-going to just lay down, M-Morty!" Tears randomly started dripping down Rick's face, "D-don't leave me, o-o-ok, M-Morty? You're n-not allowed to."

"I'm not going to leave you, Rick." Morty said with a sigh. 

Rick's entire body shook for a moment, and he clawed at the horns on his head. Morty huffed and grabbed the older hybrid's non-broken arm. 

"C'mon, Rick. Let's go." 

Morty led the scientist back to his room and helped him into bed. 

"When you wake up, I'm going to wrap your chest with bandages, alright?"

"F-f-fine, M-Morty.." Rick grumbled. 

Morty sat with Rick until the hybrid had fallen into a drunken sleep. He stood up and was about to leave when a crumbled piece of paper caught his eye. He picked up it, uncrumbled it, and slowly read over it. 

The paper read: Rick. Dad. Whatever the hell you are. You killed my son, whether it was on purpose or not, and I will never be able to forgive you for that. I can't even think about you without wanting to both kill something and cry at the same time. Do everyone a favor and just disappear, would you? That thing, that Morty- the one who follows you around- is.. he's got something wrong with him if he believes that you're a good person. You're not a good person, and I know that because I'm like you in many ways.

Summer sometimes speaks about you as though she misses you- and I guess I used to be like her. Not anymore. Don't go near my daughter and DON'T come back.

Sincerly,  
~Beth Sanchez


	24. A Morty Adventure!

Morty hummed quietly to himself as he walked through a crowd of other Ricks and Mortys with his own Rick in tow. The two were holding hands- which was Morty's idea. He hadn't wanted to get separated from Rick. 

"Oh, wow! Rick! Look!" Morty said excitedly, pointing towards a shop labeled, 'Morty's Plushies'. 

Rick looked over and furrowed his brow. 

"What's so great about it?" He asked. 

"The stuffed animals are so cute!" Morty said happily as he pulled Rick over to the shop. 

The Morty who seemed to be running the whole place wore the normal yellow Morty shirt. But, he also had a cute little black top hat on his head. 

"Hello!" The Morty said cheerfully as he waved at Rick and Morty. 

Morty happily waved back, but Rick just stayed quiet. The smaller hybrid didn't think he could wave his hand anyway. Not with one arm broken and the other that was currently stuck in Morty's grip.

"C'mon, Rick! Let's look around!" 

Morty pulled Rick with him as he went down one of the aisles. The shelves were lined with cute stuffed animals. Although he knew Rick wasn't really the kind of person to enjoy stuffed animals, Morty still wanted to buy him one with the small amount of money he had. 

"What do you think of this one, Rick?" Morty asked, holding up a sheep. 

"Eh." 

"Oh. Well, how about this?" This time Morty held up a shark. 

Rick sighed, "Just choose whichever one you want, Morty." 

Obviously the older hybrid hadn't realized what Morty was planning. After searching through the aisles, the small hybrid found a Crested Gecko stuffed animal. He picked it up and smiled. 

"I want to buy this one!" He said. 

Rick nodded and let Morty pull him up to the counter. The small lizard handed the other Morty his money and then let Rick pull him out of the store. 

"Here." Morty said, once they were out of the store. He handed Rick the plushie. "For you." 

"God, Morty. You know that I'm an adult, right?" Rick said, though he took the stuffed animal when it was offered to him. 

"I thought that you might like it."

Rick didn't respond, and instead kept walking. 

"It's cute." He finally said as they walked into a restaurant. "I hope that you're hungry, Morty, because we're eating." 

Morty grinned widely, and his tail happily swished from side to side. 

"I'm glad you like it!" Morty said. 

"You're a good kid, Morty." 

"Geeze, Rick. I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter was so short! I'm beginning to run out of ideas for new chapters, so if any of you have a suggestion or two, please let me know!!


	25. A Sad But Short Drabble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a drabble request I got on Tumblr.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Sorry for not updating in a while! Updating every day was starting to drag on me, so any future updates will be whenever I'm in the mood to write. I just needed some time to get the ambition to work on this fic again. Anyway, thank you all for sticking around!

The shattering of a glass bottle sounded through the empty house- almost empty house. Morty was out and about, but Rick was sitting in the living room. Blood oozed from the hybrid's hand where glass had sliced through the scales that lay there. The scientist didn't even give a second thought about his hand as he curled into himself. 

Life sucked, and there wasn't anything Rick could do about it. He knew that he should be numb to this by now- feelings weren't important in his field of work. But, damnit, he couldn't do anything about the tears now streaming down his face. Rick was glad Morty wasn't here for this breakdown. It would have only worried the kid. 

"Leave and never come back!" 

Beth's voice echoed through Rick's head. He growled at the sound and dug his claws into his scaled head, trying desperately to make that voice go away. 

"Get out of my head!" Rick shouted as his tail lashed against the couch he sat on, "Just go away....." 

The hybrid screwed his eyes shut, not knowing how exhausted he was until he did. The blood still dripping from his hand was once again ignored as Rick layed down on the couch and curled back up. A fitful sleep eventually took over him.


	26. Smeared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morty is not happy about what he finds when he gets home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. It's been a while, hasn't it. I was reading through all the super sweet comments this fic has received, and figured I write a little something for it. Thank you all for your support.

When Morty opened the door to his and Rick's shared home, he wasn't entirely sure what he had been expecting. Whatever it was, it most definitely wasn't this. 

There was a trail of blood staining the carpet beneath him, and there was even more blood on the hallway walls. It was.. rather concerning, to say the least. 

"Rick? Rick, are you home?" Morty's tail gave a small twitch as he listened for any kind of response. Of course, knowing Rick, there wasn't one. However, the sound of something crashing to the ground came from Rick's bedroom. "Rick? C'mon, I know you're in there!" Again, there was no response. "Fine. I'm coming in in three.... Two.... One!" 

Morty pushed the door open to find Rick laying in a bloodied heap on the floor. His lab coat looked like it had been ripped to shred, and the scientist himself didn't look much better. "Oh-! Oh geeze, Rick! What happened?!" 

Rick opened one of his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "'M fine, Morty. Just tired." The hybrid curled his tail around himself, as though trying to hide something. 

"You are not fine! You're bleeding, Rick! At least let me help you get cleaned up!" Morty ran a clawed hand over Rick's scales along the scientist's neck. It seemed to be the only blood-free spot. "Here, look. I'll go grab some stuff from the bathroom. You just sit tight, okay?" 

Rick didn't respond. He just quietly watch Morty scamper off. As soon as the kids was gone, however, Rick tried to push himself off the ground, only to collapse back onto the blood-soaked ground when his limbs gave out on him. A wheeze left the hybrid as he pressed a hand against the worst of his injuries. He could still feel the hilt of the knife embedded in his scales. Morty would surely panic when he spotted the thing.

It wasn't long before Morty ran back into the room, arms filled with medical supplies. They were all dumped on to the floor next to Rick as Morty carefully pulled the older hybrid's once white lab coat off. Then, from there, he was quick to go to work on cleaning and bandaging the wounds covering his adopted Rick's body. 

"Geeze, Rick. What happened?" It was more rhetorical than anything. 

"Don't worry about it, Morty. I just had some business to take care of." 

The room was quiet for a short while. Well, until Morty found the knife, that is. The smaller hybrid froze as he stared intently at the blade's hilt. Rick shuttered under Morty's gaze and at least had the audacity to look somewhat ashamed. 

"Rick. Who the hell did this? Why didn't you tell me there was a knife in your side sooner?!" A furious Morty was not the Morty Rick had been expecting. "Just another Rick, Morty. It's fine. I didn't tell you about it earlier because it looks worse than it is." 

Morty let out an angry huffed as his tail lashed behind him. "I can't pull it out. It's.. too gross. You gotta do it." Rick sighed, but nodded. He reached for the hilt with his claws, curling each of them around it when his hand made contact with it. Rick took a deep breath before ripping the damn thing out of his side. He snarled in pain as he checked the bloodied weapon aside. 

As soon as the knife was free, Morty used a rag to help put pressure against the wound. Once the bleeding slowed, he cleaned the wound and bandaged it. It seemed, thankfully, that it had been the last of Rick's injuries. "You need to eat and drink something, Rick." 

Rick shut his eyes and clawed lightly at the stained carpet beneath him. "Later. I think.. I think 'm gonna just.. sleep here for a bit." The hybrid let out a large yawn. Morty was going to protest, but Rick was already asleep. A heavy sigh left the smaller lizard as he quietly pushed himself to his feet. A blanket was recovered from Rick's bed and placed over the exhausted scientist before Morty gathered up the medical supplies littering the floor. 

"You're an idiot, Rick," Morty mumbled, looking back at the older lizard's sleeping form. "But, I love you. Please don't keep getting yourself so beat up." Morty's face softened as he quietly shut Rick's bedroom door.


End file.
